Process of and apparatus for pumping liquid and gas



C. C. WILSON.

PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR PUMPING LIQUID AND GAS. APPLICATION FILED AUG.I8, 1919.

1,380,695, Patented June 7; 1921 1 7A WW,-

cnnnnncn 0. WILSON, or conconAn, cALIFonn-m.

PROCESS APPARATUS FOR PUMPING LIQUID AND GAS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLARENCE C. Wmson, a citizen of the United States, residing at Corcoran, in the county of Kings and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Processes of and Apparatus for Pumping Liquid and Gas, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to a method.

of pumping water or other liquid when vmixed with gas and to an improved appalarly with combustible gas, supposed to be derived from the decomposition of 'tules', that it is not possible to draw the water to the surface of the ground by ordinary irrigation pumping methods. It is not possible to use an ord1nary centrifugal pump for pumping the water out of the ground for the reason that the'gas, commingled with the water, collects inthe pump until it breaks the priming of the suction ipe.

I have discovered, that this difiicuity can beovercome by providing two conditions in conjunction with 'the centrifugal pump. The first condition is to place a foot valve in the suction pipe of the pump. The second condition is to provide a suflicient amount of water in the outflow. pipe of the pump capable of running back into the f pump, when the pumping ceases tempora- I scending water.

rily, and ejecting the gas from the pump. have used a third condition in actual practice, although-I amnot sure that this is a necessary condition, namely, that the pump casing should be provided with a conduit or passage leading from the upper portion of the pump casing upwardly to permit the 4 collected gas to escape;

Referring to the drawing, 1 indicates a centrifugal pump,2 the outlet pipe therefrom leading upwardly to a tank 3 sufficiently large to" hold a suflicientsupplyof water, capable of running back to the pump,

when the pumping ceases temporarily, to.

displace the gas collected therein. 4 indi- Specification of Letters Patent. t t June 7, 1 Application filed August I8, 1919. Serial No. 318,210.

cates a suction pipe of the pump leading from below the level of the water, and provided, below said level, with a non-return foot valve 5. 6 indicates an escape passage for the gas collected in the pump casing, and leading into the outlet pipe 2.

Many attempts have been made to use centrifugal pumps for pumping in certain districts in California in which there is water sufliciently near the surface of thesoil and which water contains a considerable' quantity of gas commingled therewith. But all such attempts have proved failures, for the reason that, after pumping a short time, the gas pumped up with the water collects in the centrifugal pump casing, probably in the central portion thereof, until the priming of the pump is broken, and the water-"falls back down the suction pipe to the level of the water in .the well, which has to be primed over again before pumping can be renewed. The time and trouble of repeated reprimings required after pumping for a short time have caused such pumps to beabandoned in these localities.

I have discovered that this difiiculty may be overcome, first, by providing the foot valve 5 at the bottom of the suction pipe 4:, thus top of the suction pipe 4, thus breaking the priming. I also in practice employ a pump in which there is a passage 6 leading from the upper portion to the outlet pipe 3 for the escape of gas so driven out by the de- However, said escape passage maybe at a much lower level than as here indicated.

With such a construction, and provided thatthe pump proper is maintained in action, the pumping of the water or other 3 liquid is automatically restored almost im mediately after it has been cut ofi] by the collection of gas in the pump chamber.

The pumping proceeds in the following manner:

The water and gas are drawn up through the suc ion pipe into the pump casing and the gas, being the lighter of the two, 001- lects probably in the middle of the pump casing, until it has collected to such an extent that the priming is broken and the centrifugal pump no longer acts to draw water from the suction pipe, and, therefore, .no longer acts to force water into the outlet pipe. Water being no longer driven-into the outlet pipe, the water already in the Said pipe and the water in the tank flow back into the centrifugal pump, and displace the -air therein, which escapes by way of the passage 6. The priming being now again completed, the pumping again starts automatically and proceeds as before until a ufficient quantity of gas is collected in the pump casing to break the priming, when the pumping stops and water flows back again from the outlet pipe and tank and displaces the gas and restores the priming, and so on indefinitely.

I claim v The combination of a centrifugal pump,

'a suction pipe leading to said pump, a nonreturn Valve in said pipe, an outlet pipe from the pump, a tank in freecommunication with said pipe and of sufiicient s1ze to hold the contents of the pump, and a passage leading from the upper portion of the pump. to the outlet pipe.

loLARENoE 0. WILSON. 

